On this Memorial Day, I will leave comments to my grandfather, who wrote of his experience in the 1914 War. That was the Great War, “the war to end all wars”. Ha!
My family was extraordinarily fortunate to have had none killed on the battlefields of the twentieth century. On my father’s side, all the men of his generation served and survived, as did the men of my grandfather’s generation. Luck of the Irish. My grandmother, too, served in World War I as a nurse, which is how they met.
On the other side, my mother’s family, her brothers all served and survived. My grandfather was in an essential industry (steel), so he stayed in Chicago.
Here is a bit from James Harding Barry’s memoir :
“I spent a year as house surgeon in a provincial hospital, and then the 1914 War started. I thought it had been sent by Providence for my special benefit. I joined the Royal Army Medical Corps, without having a physical examination. They didn’t know I had only one eye.”…
“I went out with a field ambulance and was transferred straight away to one that was taking casualties from regental aid posts. We had our ambulance station in a school house about three miles behind the line and went up as soon as it got dark at night with our old horse-drawn ambulance to collect wounded and sick.”…
“Village life wasn’t all that peaceful. The Boche dropped a few shells every day, one of which killed our Major. I was standing in the doorway of the school one morning, smoking a cigarette to show what a brave lad I was, and of course I hadn’t got a tin hat on, just like the young fools who ride motorbikes without crash helmets. A shell came in through the window and burst inside. It blew me across the road and killed our Major and a number of wounded patients lying on stretchers on the floor of the school room…”
And later :
“No wonder the poppy grew so well on Flanders Fields. Any ordinary common gardener will tell you that blood is the stuff to make the flowers bloom…”
“I saw more blood and thunder than most men. I felt it was indecent to survive.”
There is more, of course, but today we are grateful to all whose lives were lost. Nowadays, we also remember all who served, and as we thank them for their service, we are thankful, too, for luck that spared some.
Stay safe, stay well. Peace. It’s a lot to ask, but I continue to hope.
Peace indeed, worthy of hope.
Well said, Anne.
I can see your family resemblance in the photograph of your grandfather. (and an affection for dogs)